Frequently Asked
Questions

Commitment to tutoring is one month at a time. Commitment to coaching varies depending upon the student’s or parents’ needs and the selected coaching offering. Math tutoring sessions are pre-paid at the beginning of each month, and coaching offerings are paid up front. We can always have an initial meeting to determine whether there is a good fit. I am flexible and here to work with parents and students.

Sessions may be offered online or in person. For local families who require executive function or ADHD coaching, sessions are usually in person. Some coaching and tutoring offerings include office hours, which are available online or in person. Atrium Academics also offers self-paced online and in-person courses.

It is very rare that students know how much help they actually require. Usually, students think they just need a little help to complete a section, or to complete a homework assignment. However, the problem usually runs much deeper. Frequently, the student does not know how to study for math, for example, and is constantly “playing catch-up,” or the student does not understand the foundational material and is only thinking about one assignment at a time. Therefore, in order to achieve a significant positive change in school, students must have at least a weekly session to keep up with new class material and to catch up with earlier material.

If a student is doing well with the homework they are given in class and they already have a lot of schoolwork to do, tutoring homework may not be mandatory. Optional worksheets and access to additional practice problems are always available. Tutoring homework worksheets will be deemed mandatory if a student is struggling with a particular concept. For coaching sessions, students are given areas to work on at home according to the goals we establish during session.

I am here to help. Students can always text, email, or call to ask questions. An answer can be provided with a link to a video, or whiteboard, or a quick online meeting with the student. Time spent preparing the explanation or meeting with the student will be invoiced at the hourly rate in 15-minute increments. Preparation time of 45 minutes or more will be invoiced as a full session, which is 50 minutes. According to the coaching or tutoring offering selected, some students may attend multiple weekly office hours to receive additional help.

If your child struggles with any of the following, it might be a good time to seek an executive function coach to help your child build executive function skills: keeping track of assignments, planning for long term projects, keeping backpacks and workspace orderly, keeping track of time, staying focused during homework time, resisting impulses, being flexible about last minute changes, generating ideas for problem solving, staying focused while reading, remembering what was just said a minute ago, or starting homework. If homework time is a daily struggle, a child often responds to outside help more readily than help offered by parents. An executive function coach can provide relief from the pain of daily homework for students and parents alike.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution for a student who requires help with executive function skills. I work with each student individually to understand where they need help, how to best help them, and then we develop a customized plan for their success, complete with long-term and short-term goals and progress assessments. Much of my work involves listening to parents and the student and observing so I can determine what approach will work best for the student’s success. The best solutions are those that the student agrees with and is willing to try. Therefore, collaboration is the key! I like to remind parents and students to be patient and know that change is happening, even if it is not as fast as they would like. Ultimately, students and parents feel relieved that they have a coach in their corner to depend on and to help them get through schoolwork.

Each student is unique, and each week may bring new challenges, so there really is not a “typical” session. However, these are some of the key components of many of my coaching sessions:
• I connect with the student to establish trust and a successful working relationship
• Together, the student and I set up all support structures and necessary technology
• We discuss what worked and did not work from the previous week
• We celebrate successes and alter goals, if needed
• We plan for the next week using tools that have been personalized for the student’s needs
• I help the student establish long term and short term detailed goals
• I work with the student to break their workload into manageable pieces and together we make a task list, establishing a weekly habit
• With my help, the student assesses the time required for each task on the list
• I design habits with the student to help with time-blindness and time management
• We practice new habits and make plans for “habit stacking”
• I review and help with homework
• We come to an agreement about what is to be completed for the following week

The time it takes to really improve performance in school is different for each student. However, in almost all cases, executive function coaching takes time. It involves rewiring the brain by building new neural pathways and establishing a relationship where the student will be motivated to make change. Therefore, at least a semester is usually required. I help parents/caregivers to understand that change is happening even if it is not as quickly as they would like. Brain re-wiring takes time, and the knowledge students gain in coaching sessions must become endemic to their daily life so they can have it with them in the years to come.

You can inquire about pricing here.

I do not take insurance. However, you will be provided with invoice receipts that you can use with insurance companies or educational funding sources. Check with your insurance company about using HSA and FSA accounts to pay for coaching.

Absolutely! Whether a child is diagnosed with ADHD, or Executive Function disorder, or has no diagnosis at all but needs a little help, I can work with your child to put them back on track. Study skills are usually not taught in school and most students can benefit from learning how to take notes in school, and how to study after school. With help, your child will learn how to be accountable for their own learning and practice the skills to achieve success in school.

For students who are just entering high school Algebra or Geometry, the difference in teacher expectations from middle school to high school is significant and students are often not prepared to take high school level courses after their middle school math classes. Students often struggle at the beginning of the year, receive poor grades, fall behind, and lose confidence. During the Algebra 1 summer preparatory class, students receive a solid foundation and an introduction to material which is covered in the beginning of a high school level Algebra course. During the Geometry summer preparatory course, students are introduced to proofs and how to logically think about them, and how to learn the many theorems and definitions required in Geometry.